Transsexuality

A number of sexual problems, such as homosexuality and transsexuality can well have medical aspects, and in such cases recourse should certainly be had to the best medical assistance. But it is clear from the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh that homosexuality is not a condition to which a person should be reconciled, but is a distortion of his or her nature which should be controlled or overcome. This may require a hard struggle, but so also can be the struggle of a heterosexual person to control his or her desires. The exercise of self-control in this, as in so very many other aspects of life, has a beneficial effect on the progress of the soul. It should, moreover, be borne in mind that although to be married is highly desirable, and Bahá'u'lláh has strongly recommended it, it is not the central purpose of life. If a person has to wait a considerable period before finding a spouse, or if ultimately, he or she must remain single, it does not mean that he or she is thereby unable to fulfill his or her life’s purpose. 

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, 12 January 1973; Lights of Guidance, p. 366, #1222)

We were not able to determine which letter written on behalf of the House of Justice you were referring to, but in the past the House of Justice has advised that it has not found any text in the Bahá'í writings which deals explicitly with the subjects of transsexuality or surgical operations carried out to change sex.  It has decided that changes of sex or attempts to change sex should, at the present time, be considered medical questions on which advice and guidance should be sought from experts in that field.

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an indivdiual, 8 October 1998)
 

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